Antiwar Radio with Scott Horton » Constitution

Glenn Greenwald

Scott Horton — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:01:14 +0000

Salon.com blogger Glenn Greenwald discusses federal judge Katherine Forrest’s amazing ruling against the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act; why the US is moving rapidly toward an authoritarian police state 10+ years after 9/11; how the PATRIOT Act and military commissions, both highly controversial in 2001, have become the new normal; the Justice Department’s refusal to say that journalists and activists aren’t subject to indefinite detention – even though the DOJ would have won in court by doing so; how the NDAA violates the 1st and 5th Amendments; the Congress’s assault on due-process; and how the mainstream media avoids debate on inconvenient subjects by simply ignoring them.

MP3 here. (22:11)

Glenn Greenwald is a former Constitutional and civil rights litigator and is the author of two New York Times Bestselling books on the Bush administration’s executive power and foreign policy abuses. His just-released book, With Liberty and Justice for Some, is an indictment of America’s two-tiered system of justice, which vests political and financial elites with immunity even for egregious crimes while subjecting ordinary Americans to the world’s largest and most merciless penal state. Greenwald was named by The Atlantic as one of the 25 most influential political commentators in the nation. He is the recipient of the first annual I.F. Stone Award for Independent Journalism, and is the winner of the 2010 Online Journalism Association Award for his investigative work on the arrest and oppressive detention of Bradley Manning.

Will Grigg

Scott Horton — Tue, 08 May 2012 04:23:17 +0000

Will Grigg, blogger and author of Liberty in Eclipse, discusses his article “The Everyday Evil of America’s Torture State;” Daniel Chong’s “accidental” 5 day incarceration during which he was without food or water, handcuffed and in complete darkness; the “Gitmo-ization” of the US justice system; other anecdotes of the cops torturing and killing Americans without being fired or prosecuted; the Michigan State Supreme Court’s unusual recognition of the right to resist unlawful arrest; the realization of Alan Dershowitz’s “torture warrants;” and how the prison-industrial complex profits from expanding the War on Drugs.

MP3 here. (38:07)

Will Grigg writes the blog Pro Libertate and is the author of Liberty in Eclipse.

Will Grigg

Zooey Greif — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:01:17 +0000

Will Grigg, blogger and author of Liberty in Eclipse, discusses his article “The Resistance Rises: Restoring the ‘Castle Doctrine;’” why the passage of Indiana’s Senate Bill 1, restoring the right to defend your own home, won’t mean it’s “open season on law enforcement;” how the War on Drugs hastened the demise of both the castle doctrine and Fourth Amendment; how infamous former LAPD chief Daryl Gates helped militarize police forces, pioneering SWAT and DARE; and why, if you legally must submit to a costume-wearing government official acting unlawfully, you don’t have any rights at all.

MP3 here. (29:54)

Will Grigg writes the blog Pro Libertate and is the author of Liberty in Eclipse.

Glenn Greenwald

Scott Horton — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 05:02:50 +0000

Salon.com blogger Glenn Greenwald discusses his article “The NYPD spying controversy: a microcosm for the 9/11 era;” the near-unanimous bipartisan support for spying on all Muslims in the NY City area – whether they are suspected of a crime or not; why there’s been little press coverage of the NYPD’s activities (since the issue can’t be framed as a Democrat v. Republican controversy); the eroding civil liberties of all Americans, including non-Muslims; Attorney General Eric Holder’s justification of extrajudicial assassination of US citizens, without oversight, at the president’s whim; and why advocates of trials, formal charges and the Constitution are often branded “terrorist sympathizers.”

MP3 here. (26:37)

Jacob Hornberger

Scott Horton — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 06:05:03 +0000

Jacob Hornberger, founder and president of the Future of Freedom Foundation, discusses “The War on Terrorism, the Constitution, and Civil Liberties” college speaking tour, featuring Jacob, Bruce Fein and Glenn Greenwald from February 6th-9th; the rising tide of Americans who refuse to trade liberty for “security,” 9/11 justification be damned; reasserting the legal and constitutional limitations on government power; and the slippery slope of War on Terror abuses, such that the indefinite detention and torture of American citizens is the new normal.

MP3 here. (20:13)

Jacob G. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation. He is a regular writer for The Future of Freedom Foundation’s publication, Freedom Daily, and is a co-editor or contributor to the eight books that have been published by the Foundation.

Marcy Wheeler

Scott Horton — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 05:31:17 +0000

Blogger Marcy Wheeler discusses the conviction of US citizen Tarek Mehanna on material support of terrorism charges, in part for posting “jihadist” videos online; the SCOTUS ruling (Holder v. HLP) that defines “material support” so broadly a lawyer could be arrested for representing alleged terrorist organizations (except those favored by the government, like MEK); whether provisions in the NDAA authorize the indefinite detention of Americans or not; the legal precedents set by the Yaser Hamdi, Jose Padilla and Anwar Al-Awlaki cases; and the ways presidents can avoid judicial review altogether – should a court ever get reacquainted with the Constitution and stop deferring to Executive power.

MP3 here. (19:17)

Blogger Marcy Wheeler, a.k.a. emptywheel, grew up bi-coastally, starting with every town in New York with an IBM. Then she moved to Poway, California, home of several participants in the Duke Cunningham scandal. Since then, she has lived in Western Massachusetts, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Ann Arbor, and — just recently — Western Michigan.

She got a BA from Amherst College, where she spent much of her time on the rugby pitch. A PhD program in Comparative Literature brought her to Michigan; she got the PhD but decided academics was not her thing. Her research, though, was on a cool journalistic form called the “feuilleton” — a kind of conversational essay that was important to the expansion of modern newspapers in much of the rest of the world. It was pretty good preparation to become a blogger, if a PhD can ever be considered training for blogging.

After leaving academics, Marcy consulted for the auto industry, much of it in Asia. But her contract moved to Asia, along with most of Michigan’s jobs, so she did what anyone else would do. Write a book, and keep blogging. (Oh, and I hear Amazon still has the book for sale.)

Marcy has been blogging full time since 2007. She’s known for her live-blogging of the Scooter Libby trial, her discovery of the number of times Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded, and generally for her weedy analysis of document dumps.

Marcy met her husband Mr. emptywheel playing Ultimate Frisbee, though she retired from the sport several years ago. Marcy, Mr. EW and their dog — McCaffrey the MilleniaLab — live in a loft in a lovely urban hellhole.

Glenn Greenwald

Scott Horton — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 07:17:10 +0000

Salon.com blogger Glenn Greenwald discusses his article “Obama to sign indefinite detention bill into law;” our return to the McCarthy era when indefinite detention was last codified in law; how the Levin/McCain bill just ties up legal loose ends to 10 years of official government policy previously justified by the AUMF; the broadened definition of terrorism, such that the president could target just about anyone; why we shouldn’t mistake Obama’s initial NDAA objections as a defense of liberty (he just doesn’t want Congress infringing on his near-dictatorial powers); why the progressive/liberal Left is not nearly as good on civil liberties now as during the Bush administration; the coalition of activists outside the mainstream who fight to preserve the Bill of Rights; and how the war on terror is increasingly focused on domestic issues, including this gem from Will Grigg.

MP3 here. (29:08)

The Other Scott Horton

Scott Horton — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 05:11:45 +0000

The Other Scott Horton (no relation), international human rights lawyer, professor and contributing editor at Harper’s magazine, discusses the provisions within the National Defense Authorization Act allowing Americans to be detained by the military indefinitely, without trial; how democratic societies are destroyed by supposedly temporary or emergency “exceptions” to the rule of law; Congress’s tough-guy push for a militarized criminal justice system, even though the military opposes the idea and existing federal courts are perfectly capable of handling the work load; how the Bush administration successfully used civilian courts to prosecute and convict terrorists; and how DC Circuit Courts have neutered SCOTUS rulings on habeas corpus protections.

MP3 here. (22:16)

The other Scott Horton is a Contributing Editor for Harper’s magazine where he writes the No Comment blog. A New York attorney known for his work in emerging markets and international law, especially human rights law and the law of armed conflict, Horton lectures at Columbia Law School. A life-long human rights advocate, Scott served as counsel to Andrei Sakharov and Elena Bonner, among other activists in the former Soviet Union.

He is a co-founder of the American University in Central Asia, and has been involved in some of the most significant foreign investment projects in the Central Eurasian region. Scott recently led a number of studies of abuse issues associated with the conduct of the war on terror for the New York City Bar Association, where he has chaired several committees, including, most recently, the Committee on International Law. He is also a member of the board of the National Institute of Military Justice, the Andrei Sakharov Foundation, the EurasiaGroup and the American Branch of the International Law Association.

Christopher Anders

Scott Horton — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:38:15 +0000

Christopher Anders, senior legislative counsel in the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office, discusses his article “Senators Demand the Military Lock Up American Citizens in a ‘Battlefield’ They Define as Being Right Outside Your Window;” the secretly-negotiated bill proposing indefinite detention in military custody for US citizens accused of terrorism (or donating to the wrong charities, etc.); how the Non-Detention Act of 1971 (the “never again” response to Japanese-American internment during WWII) envisioned Congress as a moderating force that would prevent Executive abuses; why the Supreme Court is the last obstacle preventing military POW camps from replacing the civilian justice system; indications that Obama may actually veto (rather than encourage) the Constitution’s destruction; and why you should call your senator to help stop this bill from passing.

MP3 here. (20:00)

Christopher E. Anders is the senior legislative counsel in the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington Legislative Office. He represents the ACLU in lobbying Congress and the executive branch on lesbian and gay rights, the faith-based initiative, conflicts between religious claims and civil rights, fair housing, oversight of federal civil rights enforcement, restoration of civil rights protections eroded by the courts, hate crimes and HIV/AIDS issues.

Will Grigg

Scott Horton — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 05:20:35 +0000

Will Grigg, blogger and author of Liberty in Eclipse, discusses his article “Support Your Local Police State;” the history and evolution of policing in the Western world; how grand juries have changed from being tools for citizens investigating government crimes, into the playthings of prosecutors; why mall cops deserve more respect than their government employed counterparts; the difference between a law enforcement officer and a peace officer; and how Occupy Wall Street protesters are treated like “disruptive” Guantanamo prisoners.

MP3 here. (23:53)

Will Grigg writes the blog Pro Libertate and is the author of Liberty in Eclipse.